Period 4 - Ethics lecture summary
lecture 1 2
Business Science and Business Ethics 2
Ethical decision-making 3
What ethical behaviour is not 3
what is hard about ethical decision-making 3
lecture 2 4
Recap: Business Science & Business Ethics 4
Recap: Ethical decision-making 4
Recap: different answers on where to ground ethical principles 4
Utilitarianism and Kant/libertarianism: similarities 4
Evaluating consequences: intention and motive 5
Utilitarianism and Kant/Libertarianism: differences 5
Problems of utilitarianism 5
The problem of justice 5
Problems with libertarianism 6
lecture 3 6
recap: utilitarianism and kant/libertarianism: similarities and differences 6
Recap: Intention and motive 6
Kant: Rationality and freedom 7
the aims of ethics, according to Kant 7
The supreme principle of morality 7
First formulation of the categorical imperative 7
Second formulation of the categorical imperative 8
Summing up 8
Criticisms of Kant’s views 8
lecture 4 (17.02.2020) 8
Social contract: man, nature and society 8
Thomas Hobbes 9
Leviathan 9
John Locke (1632 - 1704) English philosopher. 9
Two treatises of government 9
Jean Jacques Rousseau 10
The social contract 10
Fair and unfair contracts 10
Constitutions as social contracts 10
John Rawls 11
John Rawls: A veil of Ignorance 11
John Rawls: Justice as fairness 11
1
, John Rawls: Justice as fairness 11
So far: universal theories of justice 11
Albert camus ‘The stranger’ (1942) 12
Training 1 12
lecture 5 13
Recap: utilitarianism, kant/libertarianism, social contract theory 13
Aristotle (384-322 BC) 13
Ethics for Aristotle 13
Primary aim of ethics for Aristotle 14
Eudaimonia, Arete, and Telos 14
Rationality as Human Telos 14
Summing up 14
Practicing Virtue 15
The Golden Mean 15
Ethics and decision-making 16
Decision-making and politics 16
Tolstoy’s War and Peace (1) & (2) 16
Tolstoy’s War and Peace (3) & (4) 17
Tolstoy’s War and Peace (5) 17
lecture 6 17
Starting point: critics to Rawls 1/3 17
Starting point: critics to Rawls 2/3 17
Starting point: critics to Rawls 3/3 18
Descriptive vs. Normative 18
A defence of Rawls: Simon Caney 18
Issues with communitarianism 19
lecture 1
Business Science and Business Ethics
Business science focuses on organizations
- Organizations as agents
- Organizations as environments
Both perspectives elicit fundamental ethical questions, e.g.
- If organizations are agents, their behaviour can be evaluated on ethical grounds:
which of their actions and decisions are ethically justifiable?
- If organizations are environments (i.e structured groups of agents), then how does
the organizational structure affect the behaviour of the individual agents within the
organization and outside the organization from an ethical perspective?
2
, Business Science focuses on markets
● Markets as environments in which organizations operate
● Markets as coordination systems alternative to organizations
Again, both perspectives elicit fundamental ethical questions e.g.,:
● If markets are environments in which organizations operate, how do organizations
balance their need to be competitive with their ethical standing? And how should
markets be regulated in a way that it is possible for organizations to find a balance?
● if markets are alternative to organizations, then in which ways this difference affects
the form of evaluations (including ethical evaluations) practiced within and outside
organizations?
Business Science focuses on markets in society
● How markets affect society
● How society shapes markets
Both perspectives elicit questions e.g.,
● To which extent current societal values are affected (or should be affected) by ‘what
is good for the markets’
● To which extent should regulations on markets reflect societal values.
Ethical decision-making
the process of evaluating and choosing among alternatives in a way that is consistent with
ethical principles:
● recognizing alternatives
● recognizing stakeholders
● recognizing consequences
decision-making processes are typically multi-dimensional; Hence decisions involve
clashes of legitimate rights or values or different principles and notions of what is good
Core to ethical decision-making is the ability to balance clashing values
● No clash of values = no ethical problem
What ethical behaviour is not
● not the same as acting to one’s feelings of what is right
● not the same as acting according to religious beliefs
● not the same as abiding by the law
● not the same as following social conventions/ culturally accepted norms
● not the same as acting on the basis of scientific knowledge
Thus, although feelings, beliefs, legal and social norms, and true facts and evidence might
provide valuable input to consider, they often are not enough, and ethics cannot be
reduced to any of these aspects.
what is hard about ethical decision-making
Is there an unquestionable basis on which we can ground our ethical principles?
Different answers:
3
lecture 1 2
Business Science and Business Ethics 2
Ethical decision-making 3
What ethical behaviour is not 3
what is hard about ethical decision-making 3
lecture 2 4
Recap: Business Science & Business Ethics 4
Recap: Ethical decision-making 4
Recap: different answers on where to ground ethical principles 4
Utilitarianism and Kant/libertarianism: similarities 4
Evaluating consequences: intention and motive 5
Utilitarianism and Kant/Libertarianism: differences 5
Problems of utilitarianism 5
The problem of justice 5
Problems with libertarianism 6
lecture 3 6
recap: utilitarianism and kant/libertarianism: similarities and differences 6
Recap: Intention and motive 6
Kant: Rationality and freedom 7
the aims of ethics, according to Kant 7
The supreme principle of morality 7
First formulation of the categorical imperative 7
Second formulation of the categorical imperative 8
Summing up 8
Criticisms of Kant’s views 8
lecture 4 (17.02.2020) 8
Social contract: man, nature and society 8
Thomas Hobbes 9
Leviathan 9
John Locke (1632 - 1704) English philosopher. 9
Two treatises of government 9
Jean Jacques Rousseau 10
The social contract 10
Fair and unfair contracts 10
Constitutions as social contracts 10
John Rawls 11
John Rawls: A veil of Ignorance 11
John Rawls: Justice as fairness 11
1
, John Rawls: Justice as fairness 11
So far: universal theories of justice 11
Albert camus ‘The stranger’ (1942) 12
Training 1 12
lecture 5 13
Recap: utilitarianism, kant/libertarianism, social contract theory 13
Aristotle (384-322 BC) 13
Ethics for Aristotle 13
Primary aim of ethics for Aristotle 14
Eudaimonia, Arete, and Telos 14
Rationality as Human Telos 14
Summing up 14
Practicing Virtue 15
The Golden Mean 15
Ethics and decision-making 16
Decision-making and politics 16
Tolstoy’s War and Peace (1) & (2) 16
Tolstoy’s War and Peace (3) & (4) 17
Tolstoy’s War and Peace (5) 17
lecture 6 17
Starting point: critics to Rawls 1/3 17
Starting point: critics to Rawls 2/3 17
Starting point: critics to Rawls 3/3 18
Descriptive vs. Normative 18
A defence of Rawls: Simon Caney 18
Issues with communitarianism 19
lecture 1
Business Science and Business Ethics
Business science focuses on organizations
- Organizations as agents
- Organizations as environments
Both perspectives elicit fundamental ethical questions, e.g.
- If organizations are agents, their behaviour can be evaluated on ethical grounds:
which of their actions and decisions are ethically justifiable?
- If organizations are environments (i.e structured groups of agents), then how does
the organizational structure affect the behaviour of the individual agents within the
organization and outside the organization from an ethical perspective?
2
, Business Science focuses on markets
● Markets as environments in which organizations operate
● Markets as coordination systems alternative to organizations
Again, both perspectives elicit fundamental ethical questions e.g.,:
● If markets are environments in which organizations operate, how do organizations
balance their need to be competitive with their ethical standing? And how should
markets be regulated in a way that it is possible for organizations to find a balance?
● if markets are alternative to organizations, then in which ways this difference affects
the form of evaluations (including ethical evaluations) practiced within and outside
organizations?
Business Science focuses on markets in society
● How markets affect society
● How society shapes markets
Both perspectives elicit questions e.g.,
● To which extent current societal values are affected (or should be affected) by ‘what
is good for the markets’
● To which extent should regulations on markets reflect societal values.
Ethical decision-making
the process of evaluating and choosing among alternatives in a way that is consistent with
ethical principles:
● recognizing alternatives
● recognizing stakeholders
● recognizing consequences
decision-making processes are typically multi-dimensional; Hence decisions involve
clashes of legitimate rights or values or different principles and notions of what is good
Core to ethical decision-making is the ability to balance clashing values
● No clash of values = no ethical problem
What ethical behaviour is not
● not the same as acting to one’s feelings of what is right
● not the same as acting according to religious beliefs
● not the same as abiding by the law
● not the same as following social conventions/ culturally accepted norms
● not the same as acting on the basis of scientific knowledge
Thus, although feelings, beliefs, legal and social norms, and true facts and evidence might
provide valuable input to consider, they often are not enough, and ethics cannot be
reduced to any of these aspects.
what is hard about ethical decision-making
Is there an unquestionable basis on which we can ground our ethical principles?
Different answers:
3
